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Freemium University

How would a freemium university look like? Anderson is right – the information delivered in classes, and even the mode of delivery (for example, an exceptionally engaging lecturer’s performance), really do not cost much, if distributed through the internet. A lecture on the Theory of Relativity can be reproduces millions of times at virtually no cost. The cost of the information delivery is nearing zero. What really costs money is the individualized services such as providing feedback, grading, testing, and advising. The other part of higher education that has real cost is the physical plant: dorms, libraries, cafeteria, recreation centers, and classrooms. We should give away the delivery part of education, and only charge for these additional services. Many people have observed that students pay for the college experience, which includes not only partying with friends, but also the ability to be in close contact with professors. That is also a service that should be paid for, if one wants it.

Instead of required attendance, universities should start charging students for attending classes. Those who can figure out things on their own and cut classes, do not use classrooms, and therefore should be given tuition break, rather than penalized. People who would rather skip the college completely – frat parties, intellectual discussions, and all, - can be given a way to pass a series of exams and tests (and pay only for that), and get their degrees. In the connected world, we must assume that some people can teach themselves. It would also be great to outlaw asking which university one graduated from, just like we do not allow asking about one’s religion or political beliefs.

The whole system of credit hours (charging for seat time) is outdated, because it sells a product that costs very little (lectures and seminars), and does not distinguish it from the really valuable services. It is an ineffective bundling that promotes waste of very expensive labor of professors. A university that first figures out the freemium model, and the State that first approves it, will be the leaders of the new education.